Sunday's high temps and wind make it feel like someone had turned on a hair dryer, he said.

It has been a long hot summer throughout Texas with the threat of rolling blackouts and strain on the Texas electric grid as residents across the state hunkered down indoors to avoid the heat.

And the cool front crossing the state had people's hopes up for an end to the triple-digit heat that has accompanied a record-setting drought and voracious wildfires.

"If lower temps hold, we're out of the woods," said Theresa Gage, a spokeswoman for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state's bulk transmission grid.

On several occasions the electric council implemented emergency measures that called on Texans to conserve electricity while the grid operator was at times forced to draw on additional power from Mexico's grid and ask large industrial and commercial users to voluntarily go without power temporarily. The moves helped avoid rolling blackouts.

"Nothing has quite the effect on electric usage as extreme heat," Gage said. "It took us all to get through this difficult summer."

Texas just finished its hottest June-through-August on record and soon could hold that spot nationally when official numbers are tallied later this week. Estimates show temperatures during this span averaged 86.7 degrees, topping the previous record of 84.3 set in 1980 and tied in 1998.

Lee Glover, a horticulturalist who checks landscaping jobs for a suburban Dallas nursery, called the summer heat merciless, joking that he'll have to find his jacket when temperatures consistently dip below 100 degrees.

"It's going to bring much relief," Glover said, "Not only to us, it will bring relief to the plants themselves. Even if it's just 10 degrees it will make a huge difference."

The Caller-Times staff and The Associated Press contributed material to this report.